New York shuts down in protest after white police officer cleared over killing of black man

Protests: The demonstrations followed the decision not to charge a police officer over the death of Eric Garner (Picture: Yana Paskova/Getty)

Protesters shut down New York last night after a grand jury decision not to indict a white police officer for choking to death a black man.

Thousands streamed through the streets of Manhattan and created traffic chaos as they blocked off Times Square and the Brooklyn Bridge in protests over a killing that has further reignited the race debate in America.

The demonstrations erupted over the death of Eric Garner after it was announced that New York police officer Daniel Pantaleo, who placed the unarmed man in a chokehold, would not be prosecuted.

Protesters outwitted police who scrambled to keep up and briefly shut down the Lincoln Tunnel - one of the major arteries into the city.

Protests: The demonstrations followed the decision not to charge a police officer over the death of Eric Garner (Picture: Yana Paskova/Getty)

Tourists in Manhattan doing their holiday shopping were caught up in the chaos when the crowd tried to disrupt the lighting of the Christmas tree at the Rockefeller Centre but were pushed back by riot police.

At least 30 people in the city were arrested but protests took place across America as the outrage spread.

New York’s Mayor Bill De Blasio, who has a black wife and children, gave an emotional speech in which he said it was a “national moment of pain”.

President Obama vowed reform and Attorney General Eric Holder announced a federal investigation into Mr Garner’s death.

The unrest came as the US still reels from the riots in Ferguson, Missouri, after a grand jury did not indict white policeman Darren Wilson for shooting dead unarmed black teenager Michael Brown.

In New York Mr Garner’s widow Esaw reportedly said: “Oh my God, are you serious?” when she heard there would be no indictment.

She called his death a “modern day lynching” and that the grand jury’s decision “just tore me up”.

At a press conference Mr Garner’s mother Gwen Carr added: “How can we put our trust in the justice system when they fail us like this?”

The protests began shortly after the grand jury’s decision was announced in the afternoon and carried on late into the night.